Claude E. Pope Jr.: Cooper’s transparency required

The March 24 letter “Million-dollar request” left me scratching my head in confusion. The letter writer dismissed the NCGOP’s request for records as “juvenile” and “purely a political move,” but nothing could be farther from the truth. This is serious business.

Roy Cooper has been North Carolina’s attorney general for 14 years, dating back to the Easley administration, and has a long record of involvement in key state issues and legal cases over the years. The public deserves to know what he has been doing.

If anyone is guilty of using the public records law to play politics, it’s Cooper. He is an all-but-announced candidate for governor and has a record of secrecy and dragging his feet when it comes to public records that paint his office or his allies in a bad light.

Yet he tries to present himself as a champion of open government and criticize other leaders when even The News & Observer’s own editorial page has slammed him on public records before.

NCGOP’s public records requests are reasonable. We are asking for what the media routinely asks for: access to public records in a timely manner, without delay.

This story was originally published March 25, 2015 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Claude E. Pope Jr.: Cooper’s transparency required."